


Weddings and funerals

by sadgaymermaids



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, M/M, Not Incest, Poetry, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, they're all idiots, vanya and klaus are twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26034937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadgaymermaids/pseuds/sadgaymermaids
Summary: The umbrella academy grew up together in an orphanage. They were best friends always together, only trusting each other. Eventually, though they were all adopted, with the exception of the twins Vanya and Klaus. Somehow they end up all together at college years after most have seen each other. They all reconnect and find their family again in each other.Basically they're all happy and it's great. They're all a family of idiots.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves/Lila Pitts, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves & Everyone
Comments: 59
Kudos: 200





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five is starting college and get's a surprise in his poetry class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems that most fics for this ship are either really angsty or smut. So I decided to write something that's just fluffy.

Five had never been particularly interested in the arts, preferring to stick to math and physics. So when he discovered he had to take some kind of an arts elective for his degree he was not particularly enthused. He had picked a poetry class, he had read some decent poetry in his time. 

The class was one of the first of the week, in fact, his first class of the semester. So at 7:45, he was sliding into a seat near the back of the lecture hall and taking out a notebook, instead of equations filling it though it would be filled with words, he was not particularly excited about this but would give up one notebook to the cause. 

He glanced around the classroom, it was about half full of tired-looking college students, despite being only the first week of classes. The teacher waltzed into class at exactly 8 am. He looked to be in his mid-forties, slightly balding, wearing jeans and a hawiian shirt.  
“Goodmorning class and welcome to Introduction to Poetry,” he said with a smile turning to the class, “The class that is, as the kids say, lit.”  
Five bit back a groan as he sunk deeper into his chair this was going to a long semester. 

The professor talked for the first 10 minutes about himself, he seemed to be the type of person that talked just to hear himself speak. Five mostly tuned him out, doodling a bit in the margins of his notebook. Eventually, the syllabus was handed out and Five was relived if just to have something to do. The professor took almost the rest of the class to explain the class and schedule for the semester. It seemed to be a fairly decent courseload, nothing compared to what he expects from his physics and math courses but decent. He makes some notes in his syllabus around certain dates and just random observations. 

In the last 5 minutes of class, that professor announced their first assignment.  
“Poetry is about relating to others, taking your experiences and making them universal feelings.” He looked up at the class. “For your first assignment, you have been randomly paired with another student in the class. You will have to work with them over the next couple weeks to write a poem that reflects both of your lives.”

Five sighed, of course, the class would be big on collaboration because the world liked to punish him. Five hated group projects, his brain worked faster than most and most people got lost a couple of sentences into his explanations. There was once someone who could keep up with him but he hadn’t seen her in a long time and had resigned himself that he would never again. 

“Five Hargreeves,” Five looked up at his name being called, “You will be with Vanya Hargreeves.”

Shit.

Five had not had the most typical childhood. He grew up in an orphanage in New York with 6 other kids his age. They all got Hargreeves as their collective last name and called themselves the umbrella academy. They were a weird mix of almost siblings and best friends. Bonded through trauma and only being able to rely on each other left them with complicated relationships. The last he had seen any of them he was 13 and getting adopted. 

Vanya had always been his favourite of the group, she was quiet and observant. The two of them had spent countless afternoons and even a few nights together. They made plans for the future when they were grown and could do whatever they wanted. His biggest regret was not making an effort to find her or keep in touch after he left. She had been his best friend, the one who put up with his ramblings and got him to go outside when he was working too long. If he was being honest with himself he had a bit of a crush on her, but at 13 he had only really interacted with a couple of girls so what was he supposed to do. 

He slowly turned, scanning the classroom, he found her a couple of rows away staring at him. She had the same big brown eyes that were staring at him in complete shock. He seemed to recover before her, and carefully collected his things and made his way over to her. 

“Hi.” He said, his voice only slightly strained.  
“Hey.” She whispered.  
“Uh, so this project?” How were they supposed to interact after all this time?  
“Right. Yes.”  
She turned to her notes and he couldn’t help but stare. Vanya was here, in front of him, after 5 years of nothing.  
“Do you want to just exchange numbers and we can talk more later? I have another class to get you.” She asked turning back to him.  
“Yeah sure.”  
No, he really wanted to sit and talk for hours about what they’d done in the past few years and equally wanted to run away as fast and far as he can. Instead, they exchanged numbers and left the class together.  
“Uh, it’s nice to see you again.”  
“You too Five, I’ll see you later.”  
“Yeah have a good day.”

Five watched as she hurried off and let his head sink into his hands. His head was spinning and he didn’t know what to think. He decided he needed a large cup of strong coffee. He turned and made his way to the small coffee shop on campus and ordered a coffee. He picked a table next to the window. 

What the hell was happening? He had picked this course almost at random. How long would it have taken him to realize she was in the class? How were they sposed to interact now? Like classmates and strangers, old friends? If Vanya was here that meant Klaus wasn’t far behind. Did that mean the rest of the umbrella academy was here? He hadn’t heard from any of them in 5 years, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still in contact without him. 

Five was panicking, staring out the window watching students pass. He finally looked at his watch and realized he had a math class to get to. He pushed all the questions and confusing feelings to the back of his brain and made his way to his next class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya's reaction to seeing Five again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy that so many people have enjoyed my story so far. I'm going try and get as much of it done in the next week or so before I go back to school. This is mostly going to be a fluffy found family type fic.

To say Vanya was panicking would be an understatement. As soon as the professor had called his name she had been panicking. She had looked up and seen his green eyes and the permanent scowl etched on his face and suddenly she was 13 again. 

She remembers the night before he left, spending the night curled in his arms. How the next morning he had hugged her like he never wanted to let her go. Then with a kiss on her forehead, he had turned and left and she had never heard from him again. Until he suddenly shows up in her first class on Monday. So she was freaking out just a little bit. 

She wanted to hug him and never let him go. But then he reminded her of their project, the reason they were there. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted desperately to know everything about this new Five but everything in her was telling her to run away. And she gave in to the impulse, making up some excuse about another class. She barely managed to get his number before she was fleeing. 

She hurried down the hall, pushing her way through the crowd of students. She got out of the building and just ran. She ran off campus to the tiny apartment she and Klaus had just moved into. She managed to get into the building, her chest heaving, gasping for breath. She took the stairs up to her apartment and with shaking hands opened the door. As the door closed behind her she let herself fall apart. She sunk to the floor by the door and sunk her head into her knees.

What the hell was she supposed to do now? Five was back. The boy she hadn’t seen since she was 13 was back. It felt like she was 13 again and watching him drive away staring out the back window at her as her heart was ripped apart. What had happened to him in the past 5 years? 

Vanya’s worried thoughts were cut off by the appearance of her brother.  
“Vanya?” He rushed over and sank to the floor next to her. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”  
“I’m okay.”  
“You don’t look okay. Come on let’s move away from the door.”  
He helped her up and led her to the couch to sit down.  
“Now what’s wrong?”  
“Five-” And suddenly she was crying, the emotion overtaking her.  
“Five?”  
“He-he’s back, he was in my class.” She chocked out between sobs.  
“Oh, love.” Klaus pulled her into a hug.  
“I didn’t even realize he was there and then the teacher paired us for this project and he was there and he looks the same and so different and I didn’t know what to do so I just ran away.”  
“Hey breathe, it’s okay.” Her twin whispered in her ear rubbing her back. 

She eventually stopped crying and after a few deep breaths managed to get herself under control. Klaus went and got her a glass of water while she whipped tears and snot from her face.  
“I just don’t know what to do?”  
“Well talking to him might be a good start.”  
“I got his number. But what am I even supposed to say? Sorry I ran away from you it was just really weird seeing my old best friend after 5 years of radio silence.”  
“Well, maybe not that exactly.”  
“He probably has his own life and doesn’t even want anything to do me.”  
“It’s Five he definitely wants something to do with you. And if he doesn’t that’s his loss, and if you want me and Ben can go and beat him up.”  
“Ha, I’d like to see you try.”  
“Hey! I can be big scary protective brother when I want to be.”  
“I’m sure you can love I have yet to see it though.”  
Klaus’s rebuttal was cut off by a knocking at the door. He jumped up and went to get it and Vanya heard Ben come in.  
“Hello, my love.”  
“Hi. Hey Vanya.”  
“Hi, Ben.” Vanya said turning around to see him.  
“How was your class? It was that poetry one right?”  
“Yeah, it was weird.”  
“Five’s back.” Klaus supplied.  
“What?”  
“Yeah he was just in my class, we’re partners on this project.”  
“Shit.”  
“Yeah.” She sighed.  
“How are you doing?” Ben asked coming to sit down next to her.  
Ben had always been her favourite after Five and Klaus, he had this quiet calming nature and always made sure she was okay.  
“I don’t know, I had a good cry about it but still panicking just a little bit.”  
“Fair.”  
“I kind of ran away from him after class.”  
“Of course you did, you wouldn’t be the two of you if you didn’t.”  
“Enough about me, how were your classes?” She huffed, she didn’t want to talk about Five anymore.  
“Who knew college kids could be so dumb. I’m not excited for the more in-depth political lectures.” Ben lay his head against the back of the couch, a pained expression on his face.  
“This is why I’m not going to college, too many issues,” Klaus says waltzing into the room with a plate of cookies and a couple cups of tea.  
“And it’s only the first day.” Vanya sighed.

The group decided to order pizza and spent the evening trying to convince Vanya to text Five.  
“Just say hi or something.”  
“Ask him when he’s free to work on the project.”  
“Fine.”  
V: Hey, sorry for running away from you this morning. I was wondering when you’re free to work on our project. She hit send before she could overthink her message too much then tucked her phone into her pocket for the rest of the evening.

Eventually Ben left to go back to his own room in residence, saying his roommate was probably worried.  
“Remind me again why he’s living in residence and not with us?”  
“Because, dear sister, he wants to have the full college experience.”  
“Then why am I not living in residence?”  
“Because you love me too much.”

Vanya did the dishes while Klaus cleaned up their apartment before saying goodnight.  
“Oh, I completely forgot before with all your Five drama, I ran into Allison after dropping off Ben at his class. She invited us to have brunch with her Saturday.”  
“God it’s like the entire umbrella academy is here.”  
“Time for a family reunion!”  
“Can’t wait.” She said rolling her eyes and going into her room.

It was only when she was plugging her phone in that she saw Five had replied to her text.  
F: Hey, that’s okay you were busy. I’m free on weekends if that works for you?  
V: I’m free Sunday.  
F: Great, we can go to that cafe just off campus.  
V: Cool, I’ll see you then.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face. Maybe she could reconnect with her old family like she had wished for the last 5 years.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya, Klaus and Allison have brunch. Allison has some news and a request.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized there's a pretty big plot hole in the last chapter but we're going to just ignore that. Also we get to meet some other characters this chapter yay!

Vanya spent the rest the week going to classes and figuring out what being in college actually meant. She learned: a lot of work. She would come home from class tired but excited for the rest of the semester. She was excited to be in an environment where everyone was excited about learning.

She also spent a lot of time texting Five. It was decided, after a lot of pleading from Ben and Klaus, that the four of them would have breakfast Sunday then Vanya and Five would work on their poem for class. 

When she finally sat down on Friday night exhausted after three classes (she had a bone to pick with whoever chose her schedule). She settled on the couch, Ben and Klaus were out on a date and wouldn’t be back till later. She decided to make herself mac and cheese for dinner, needing comfort food after such a long week. 

A half-hour later she was back on the couch this time with dinner. She turned on their old second-hand tv and flipped aimlessly through the channels, she eventually settled on a channel playing the old wizard of oz movie. She remembers as a kid the one time they had a movie night they had watched it. Five had laid his head in her lap and the two of them had pointed out inaccuracies the entire movie. It’s with this in mind she decides to text Five.  
V: Do you remember that time Diego convinced Grace to let us have a movie night and we watched the wizard of oz? F: And then Luther spilled popcorn everywhere. She remembers having to wash all the blankets because they were covered in grease. Her phone buzzes again and she looks at it. F: What are you doing on this fine Friday night? V: Eating mac and cheese and watching the wizard of oz, not very exciting. What about you? F: Working. V: Five you cannot possibly have work after the first week of school. F: Maybe I’m working on a personal thing. V: Have you eaten dinner? F: No. V: What have you eaten today? F: Uh coffee? V: That’s not food! Five go eat something! F: But that would require me to get up and make something. V: Five I will come and break into your house and make you eat something if you don’t do it yourself. F: Fine. She smiled at her phone. It felt like they were kids again and he had been working on his equations for too long and she would drag him from his room and make him eat something and go outside.

She turned back to the tv and watched Dorthy and her friends on their adventure. She felt the exhaustion settling in and let her eyes drift close.

Vanya woke up in Kluas’s arms.  
“Shh go back to sleep, I’m just bringing you to bed.”  
She felt him placing her in her bed and wrapping her in blankets.  
“Goodnight love.” He kissed her on the forehead and she was asleep again before he had closed the door.

Vanya woke again to sunlight streaming through her window. She rolled over and checked the time. She had an hour before she had to meet with Allison. She dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair then went and got dressed in something Klaus would find suitable for brunch. She then decided she should probably wake her brother up if he was going to get ready in time. She figured it would be nice to wake him with coffee so she made her way to the kitchen. When she got there she saw Ben at the table waiting for a pot of coffee to steep. He looked up as she entered.  
“Hey, Vanya.”  
“Hey, I was going to wake Klaus up but maybe you can do it now. He’ll be less mean to you.”  
“Haha yeah sure.”  
“You’re a lifesaver.”  
“I know.” He called as he left with two cups of coffee.  
Vanya poured herself a cup and she couldn’t help but think of Five, Even at 13 he had been drinking the stuff. It apparently didn’t stunt your growth if his tall frame she had seen earlier that week was any reference. 

Vanya sipped her coffee enjoying the peace of the morning. Klaus came in in his usual flamboyant outfit choice.  
“Ready for some good old fashion family bonding sis?”  
“Sure.”  
“Great let’s go, Ben is driving us.”

The three piled into Ben’s old second hand Honda, Vanya in the back. Ben drove them to the fancy brunch place Allison had picked, Vanya would never be able to afford it but Allison was paying so she could pick what she wanted. They pulled up in front of the place and Vaya smiled gratefully at Ben before getting out. Klaus kissed Ben before also getting out. 

The two of them entered the trendy restaurant, that seemed to specialize in brunch, together. Vanya looked around as they walked in and saw Allison waving at them from a table nearby. They walked over to their table and Allison got up to greet them.  
“Vanya! It’s so good to see you, it’s been too long.”  
“Yeah.” She was suddenly swept into a hug by the girl.  
She turned to Klaus for a hug as Vanya took off her jacket and took a seat.  
“So Vanya what are you studying?”  
“Music and languages.”  
“Ooh double major fancy.”  
“I guess, mostly it’s just been a lot of work. What about you?”  
“Oh drama, I want to be an actress.”  
“If anyone would it be you.” Klaus cut in with a grin.  
“Luther and Diego opened a boxing gym and Luther’s been taking some business classes.”  
“That’s great, that you’re all still friends and all,” Vanya replied awkwardly.  
“Oh yeah it feels like everyone’s here, we just need Five.”  
“He’s here,” Klaus said looking at Vanya.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah in some special advanced theoretical physics and math program. He tried to explain it to me.” Vanya said with a shrug.  
“The entire umbrella academy back together at college who would have thought,” Klaus said kind of dreamily.  
“We should have like a family meeting,” Allison said looking excited. 

Their conversation was cut off by their waiter arriving. Allison ordered them all mimosas and they actually looked at their menus. The next few minutes were spent in slightly awkward silence as they decided on their food. The waiter came back and gave them their drinks. Allison ordered an omelette, Klaus the chicken and waffles, and Vanya the crepes with chocolate and marshmallows. 

“Now where were we, ah yes we’re all here, that’s great,” Allison said after the waiter had left. “That’s actually why I asked you here. I mean other than connecting with my old best friends. Well, Luther proposed to me a few weeks ago. We’re getting married.”  
“Oh my god congratulations.”  
“Yeah, congrats Al.”  
“Thanks!”

Their conversation was interrupted yet again by the waiter appearing with their food. They ate a couple bites before Allison spoke up again.  
“I was wondering if you guys wanted to be a part of the bridal party. I know we haven’t really seen each other in a long while but you guys are still a really important part of my life.”  
“Allison we’d be honoured.”  
“Yeah.”  
“When is it? Do you have a venue? Have you picked out a dress?” Klaus asked excitedly.  
“It’s actually in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be at this farm outside of the city at sunset with fairy lights. Yeah, I have a dress.”  
“What would we have to do?” Vanya asked.  
“Well you would walk down the aisle before me, I already have a maid of honour so you don’t have to worry about any of that.”  
“Yeah okay.”  
“Really?”  
“Of course, you’re basically my sister.”  
“Thank you both of you!” Allison leaned around the table to hug them.

They finished their meals, Klaus and Allison getting swept up in wedding talk. Vanya was content to just sit and listen. Allison aked for Ben and Five’s contact information saying Luther would want them as groomsmen. Vanya texted Five after giving his number to Allison.  
V: Beware if someone texts you about being a groomsman it’s just Luther. Also I might have given your number to Allison (and Klaus by proxy). 

Eventually, they finished their food and all got up to leave. Allison hugged them both again once they were outside then walked off in the opposite direction of the twins’ apartment.  
“What the hell just happened?” Vanya asked turning to Klaus.  
“Allison Hargreeves. Apparently we have to get fitted with our bridesmaids’ attire next week.”  
“Great.”  
“It’ll be fun sis, maybe it’ll convince Ben to propose.”  
“You know you could just propose to him.”  
“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that.”

The two were not that far from their apartment so they walked home in the warm afternoon. Vanya watched the people walking around them, there was a lady pushing a baby stroller, a group of high schoolers giggling together, an old couple out strolling. Vanya had spent most of her child the quiet observer of those around her and had developed the ability to read most people. The woman seemed to be stressed like she was late to be somewhere, the high schoolers were all dressed up and looked to be on their way to some sort of event, the old couple simply out for their Saturday stroll down the main street. Klaus let her wander in her mind for a bit. He was used to her quiet observations of the world around her at this point. 

It was only once they were back at their apartment that Vanya looked at her phone again.  
F: What?? V: Oh sorry I just got home. Yeah Luther and Allison are getting married and want us in the wedding party apparently. F: God I love this family. “Hey haven’t seen you in almost 7 years but do you want to be in my wedding.” V: Pretty much yeah. F: Are you gonna do it? V: Yeah, it’s Allison she’s basically my sister. Are you? F: I guess. V: It’ll make great material for our poem. F: Oh god our class is going to be so confused. V: We didn’t really have the most relatable childhood no. F: They’ll just have to get over it. V: I would like to get a decent mark in this class so maybe we should try and make it somewhat normal. F: We might be able to find something but Sir Reginald was not really what I’d call father material. V: Whoever ever let him have kids made a large mistake that’s for sure. F: I have no idea what you’re talking about, we’re completely normal. V: Sure we are Five. F: Shit I have to go but I’ll talk to you later. V: Bye Five. 

Vanya sighed and pulled out her laptop to work figure out her schedule for the next couple weeks because apparently she had a wedding to plan around now. Leave it to Allison to have her wedding three weeks into starting university.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one asked but their majors are:  
> Luther: running a gym with Diego and taking some business classes  
> Diego: running the gym with Luther (they were adopted together so they're actually brothers)  
> Allison: studying drama and wants to become an actress in Hollywood  
> Klaus: not going to university but sells his art and is trying to get a job  
> Five: an advanced theoretical physics and math program on a scholarship  
> Ben: Criminology because he wants to go to law school  
> Vanya: double majors in music (specifically violin performance) and languages (I have this headcanon that she learnt all sorts of languages growing up)
> 
> Again no one asked but:  
> Allison was the first to get adopted (at like 11-ish)  
> Luther and Diego were adopted together (at 12)  
> Five was third (at 13)  
> Ben was last (at like 14/15)  
> Klaus and Vanya were never adopted but became emancipated minors at 16 (people wanted to adopt Klaus but he wouldn't leave his sister)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya, Klaus, Ben and Five sit down and have breakfast together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I'm the type of person that updates daily. Also, we're almost halfway through this fic which is wild.

Five woke up Sunday morning to his neighbours screaming. He had moved into the tiny shoebox apartment a couple of weeks earlier and discovered he had very loud neighbours who liked to fight at seeming random hours. They also always made up with very loud sex. Though he supposes it was better than living in dorms with a roommate. Five liked his own space, he also kept odd hours and sometimes liked to write on his walls in chalk when he needed to think. 

He rolled over to check the time and realized he should probably get up if he wanted to make it to breakfast on time. He got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and combed his hair down from the mess it had become in his sleep. He came back to his room and stared at his closet. 

Now Five was not one to particularly care about what he wore he was always put together but didn’t care much for other people’s opinions on his dress. Standing in front of his closet though he was at a bit of a loss. What does one wear to breakfast with old friends, that are more like siblings, that you haven’t seen in 5 years, but now you’re working on a project, for a class you aren’t really interested in, with one of them? He decided on simple dark jeans and a button-down and that worrying about such things was ridiculous. 

He left his apartment a few minutes later tucking his notebook for class into his pocket. The one nice thing about his apartment was that it was close to campus and the small cafe they were meeting at. He hurried down the street towards the cafe that was just off campus. As he arrived he saw Vanya and Klaus walking towards him and waited by the door until they got closer.  
“Five Hargreeves!” Klaus called.  
“Hi Klaus, Vanya.”   
Vanya nodded back at him.  
“Come on, Ben’s waiting for us inside,” Klaus said leading the way inside.  
The coffee shop was warm and smelled like coffee and cinnamon, Five liked the place already. The three got into line and were joined by Ben. He wrapped an arm around Klaus and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  
“Five, so nice to see you again.”  
“Nice to see you too Ben, it’s been too long.”  
“Yeah, dude.” He responded with a pointed smile then looked towards Vanya.

She had been quiet so far, letting her brother and Ben lead the conversation. She was pulled in on herself as she so often was as a child. Five had at one point managed to pull her out of her shell but those days were gone, she was a new person now, had grown without him. Before he could talk to her though she was called to the counter. Five was called not long after, he ordered a large black coffee and a chocolate croissant. They waited for their drinks to be called in silence then sat down at a booth in the corner, away from the bustle of people. 

“So Allison and Luther are getting married,” Ben said relieving the tension.  
“Yeah three weeks after starting college.” Five said thinking of how he has to rearrange his schedule to have that weekend free and get fitted for a suit now.  
“They were nothing if not ambitious,” Vanya said from beside him, with a smirk.  
“I for one think it’s lovely,” Klaus said.  
“We’re gonna have to all see each other before this, I am not seeing my long lost siblings for the first time in 7 years at their wedding,” Ben said.  
“Oh my god, we should start a group chat,” Klaus says pulling out his phone. “I’ll text Allison, she has everyone’s numbers.”  
Five shared a look with Ben who just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He looked at Vanya sitting next to him, she looked both slightly amazed and amused at Klaus’s antics. Though after spending her entire life with him she was probably used to his ridiculousness. 

Five was pulled out of his thoughts by his phone buzzing. He looked at it to find that Allison had indeed made a group chat and Luther was now confusedly texting it.  
“It was a mistake to reconnect with any of you.” Five mumbled to himself taking a large sip of coffee.   
“We’re not that bad are we?” Vanya asked from beside him. He glanced at her.  
“Not all of you. As a group though? Debatable.”  
“I hope Allison is prepared for the full chaotic force that is the entire umbrella academy back together after over half a decade,” Ben said with a fond smile.  
“I feel so bad for all the normal people coming to this,” Klaus said.  
Vanya giggled at this.   
“What could possibly go wrong?”  
“Oh just, you know, the end of the world!” Five said with an eye roll but he was smiling.  
“Wait, everyone, we should text them a picture and say we’re together hanging out.” Klaus raised his phone to take a picture of all of them together.  
Vanya flipped off the camera, Ben rolled his eyes and Five just stared it down scowling.   
“You all love me!” Klaus said snapping a picture and sending it to their newly formed group chat.  
“Sure we do love,” Vanya said sarcastically, Klaus just stuck his tongue out at her.  
“So what are you guys gonna do for your project?” Ben asked.  
“Well, the project is to write a poem about experiences you have in common.” Vanya started.  
“Oh god, your prof made the right decision with the two of you.” Ben cut in laughing.  
“We decided to do it on our lovely, idyllic childhood.” Five said with a sarcastic grin.  
“I’m sure that’ll be great, we actually grew up together in a shitty abusive household with a bunch of other kids who are now all dating, actually two of them are getting married this weekend. You know, typical childhood things.” Ben said putting on a voice. “That poor class, just a bunch of creative writing majors trying to get a good grade, they won’t know what hit them.”  
“Exactly what I said.” Five said looking at Vanya.  
“Do you have specific things you’re gonna write about?”  
“We haven't really talked about it much, I figured we talk about different things growing up. How they’re similar or different from the typical childhood.” Vanya said looking at him.  
“Yeah, that makes sense.” He said smiling at her.  
“I’m sure between the two of you you’ll come up with something.” Ben smiled at the two of them. This seemed to be when Klaus checked back into the conversation.  
“As nice as this has been, Ben said he would take me to meet his new roommate now, and y’all have work to do, so we must leave you. Vanya, I’ll be home this evening and I’ll bring dinner. Five you now have a standing offer to come hang out with us when you want. I will see all of you soon, have a lovely day.” He stood pulling Ben with him.  
“It was really nice seeing you again Five,” Ben said smiling apologetically at them.

The two of them left leaving Vanya and Five alone in the booth. He turned to her and smiled.  
“Okay let’s get to work.” She said moving to pull out her things. Five pulled out his notebook and pen from his pocket and laid them on the table ready to start working.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all I have this idea for another fic where the premise is what would have happened if Vanya had grown up not having her powers repressed and trained and went of missions with the others. If y'all would be interested in something like that let me know. (I'll probably write it anyway but it'd be nice to know if you'd be interested)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Vanya finally work on their poem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, we're halfway there!
> 
> (I know it says 11 chapters but the last one is gonna be the epilogue)

They quickly decided that the cafe they were at was not ideal for working. Both of them liked to spread out when they worked and couldn’t properly do that in public. Vanya suggested they go back to her apartment to work since Ben and Klaus were out for the day. Her apartment was a bit farther than Five’s but it was a nice day so they didn’t mind the walk. 

Five watched Vanya as they walked, she seemed to be thinking deeply, the brow slightly furrowed and chewing on the inside of her cheek. He wanted nothing more than to know what she was thinking about but didn’t know how to ask about it. Instead, he just watched how the sunlight filtered through her hair and shone on her face. She looked rather beautiful the voice in the back of his head informed him. He quickly tired to dash the thought, she was her own independent woman, she had an entire life without him and didn’t need his comments on her appearance. 

Vanya for her part was also slightly freaking out. She was thinking about how easily Five had slotted back into her life. It was like he had never really left. She had to keep reminding herself that he had gone off and had an entire life without her because he felt like the same Five that she had known all those years ago. This Five was also devastatingly attractive, she could admit it. When he smiled at her it made her feel like she was melting just a little. Because he was still Five, her best friend and first crush.

They got to her apartment and climbed the stairs to her floor, they got to Vanya’s apartment and she opened the door. Stepping in Five looked around, he could see the obvious signs of the twins living there. There was an easel and paints set up in one corner, a music stand covered in sheet music in another. There were paintings hung around the apartment along with random books in piles around. It was a perfect mix of Vanya and Klaus, it was homely and reminded him of his childhood. 

“I can put on a pot of coffee if you want to make yourself at home. Our table’s a bit of a mess but we could work in the living room?” Vanya said making her way the kitchen.  
Five nodded and walked towards the living room, he sat down on the couch and waited for Vanya to come back. She came in a few minutes later with a pot of coffee and two mugs.   
“Okay, where do you want to start with this?” She asked sitting down next to him.  
“Well, I don’t really remember what the instructions, a lot happened that class you know.”  
“I can look back at my notes,” She went and got a notebook from her bag. “Okay, it looks like we have to write a 3 minute poem about something that relates our lives together.”  
“Okay, so childhood right?”  
“Yeah, we could talk about the whole thing. Like how weird it was and everything you know?”  
“Sure.”   
Vanya turned her notebook to a fresh page.  
“Childhood, the sounds of a man lecturing you on how disappointed he is because you’re not perfect, constantly vying for even just a little bit of his attention. Cut off from the outside world, in a mansion that sometimes felt more like a prison than a home.” Five started in an over-exaggerated voice, he turned to her. “You know now that I’m thinking about it our childhood felt kind of like a cult.”  
She just rolled her eyes at him but dutifully jotted down his ideas.  
“There were some good times too.” She said quietly.  
“Yeah like when we would have a day out in the country and we would run around the forest and climb trees and Grace would pack a picnic.” They would go once a year, in the summer and let all the kids run around and play. They would always look forward to that trip.  
“Or on your birthday when we’d get to pick dinner for the night and get cake.” Birthdays were one of the few days they didn’t have to work. Vanya would spend it with her twin, lounging and basking in the ability to do nothing. She wasn’t sure what Five did, probably much of the same but she had always been curious about what he was doing when she was in her lessons.  
“I always like sneaking up to the roof with you to watch the stars.” They would go and watch the stars, Five would explain the constellations to her and how to tell time with them, or they would just talk for hours, a couple of times they stayed up long enough to watch the sunrise.

They continued on like that for a few hours, reminiscing about both the good and bad parts of their childhood. They eventually made something into a workable poem, the teacher had said to have the first draft by their class tomorrow. 

They had spread out and Vanya was now sitting on the floor. She had paper spread around her from her notes and ideas. She looked up at Five who was copying their final product into his own notebook. His hair was hanging in his face now, a bit of a mess from him running his hands through it as they worked. Vanya was struck by the sudden urge to push it out of his face for him, to see if it was as soft as it looked. She was pulled out of her staring by her phone buzzing, Klaus had texted her.  
K: Hey, we’re on our way home now, we’ll pick up food on the way. I’m thinking chinese.  
Vanya looked up at Five.  
“Klaus and Ben are coming back and bringing chinese food. Do you want to stay for dinner?”  
“Yeah sure, thanks.” He smiled at her, making her stomach do that thing again. She turned back to her phone.  
V: Five is still here and said he’d stay for dinner so get enough for four.  
Klaus texted back a collection of emojis that Vanya took as affirmative.

By the time Klaus and Ben arrived Five and Vanya had cleaned up their notes and things off the coffee table and surrounding floor. The group of them sat and ate dinner, Ben and Klaus telling the story of what they did that day, Ben’s roommate seemed like a fairly nice guy from the second-hand account if a bit boring. 

By the time Five got home that night, he was tired but happy. He was finally reconnecting with his old best friends. As much as he tried to be a loner and not interested in people he had missed them and it felt like getting part of himself back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I started another story, it has one chapter up, it's called Falling in love; and other extreme sports. It's a lot darker than this fic but I really like it so far.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets back together! It's family reunion time baby!!

It was decided Wednesday, after everyone’s classes, that they would have a family reunion of sorts. They would get all seven Hargreeves children plus Diego’s girlfriend, Lila, together in one room. Luther and Allison were hosting it as they had an actual house instead of tiny apartments or dorm rooms. 

This is why Vanya was sitting on the couch waiting for Klaus on Wednesday afternoon. He was determined to make a good impression and was taking forever. Finally, Klaus arrived and they left their apartment. They made their way downstairs and waited in the lobby for their uber to arrive. They saw a couple of their neighbours that ignored them, the two weird college kids that would practice violin at random hours. Their uber arrived and they got in Klaus directing them to Allison’s address. Vanya leaned back and watched the world pass by her window.

They pulled up in front of a modest house with a nicely trimmed lawn and garden. They got out of the car and thanked their driver then turned to the house. Klaus led the way up the steps to the door. He knocked and the two waited with bated breath. The door opened to reveal Luther, he had always been muscular as a kid and it seems had kept it up after leaving. He grinned at them.  
“Hi, guys! Come in come in.” He stepped aside to let them enter. “Diego and Lila are already here, everyone’s just in the living room.”  
“Good to see you, buddy!” Klaus said patting his arm.  
“Definitely, I can’t believe it took this much time to get us all together again.”  
He turned to hug Klaus and then Vanya. She hugged him back if a bit awkwardly.   
“It’s nice to see you, Vanya.” He said as he pulled back.  
“Yeah, you too.”

Luther led them to the living room where Allison immediately got up to greet them. She pulled Vanya into a hug and squealed slightly in her ear.  
“Vanya! Klaus!”  
“Yes yes it’s us, no need to be so excited,” Klaus said now getting pulled into a hug.

Vanya looked around the room was tastefully decorated in that trendy, modern style. There were some photos of Luther and Allison together and Allison with people she didn’t recognize. On the couch, Diego sat, he had been quiet, like her, growing up due to a stutter, they had been kind of friends. He looked much the same but more confident which made her happy. He seemed content in life instead of mad at the world like the last time she had seen him.

“Diego come say hi!” Allison called to him.  
He got up to join the group of them in the doorway, he somewhat reluctantly held out his arms to hug Klaus and then Vanya.   
“It’s nice to see you both. You, uh, look good.” He said awkwardly smiling at them. “Uh- this is my girlfriend Lila.” He turned back to the couch.  
There was a woman with dark skin and short hair that smiled at them.  
“Lila this is Klaus and Vanya, the twins.”  
“Pleasure to meet you!” Lila said, standing to greet them as well. She had a british accent. She extended her hand to shake both of theirs.

“Make yourselves at home, would you like anything to drink?” Allison said, slipping into her position as host.  
Vanya sat in a chair facing the group and Klaus on another couch. Diego and Lila took their same spots as before and Luther sat next to them. Klaus asked Allison for some water, Vanya denying anything.

“So what have you guys been up to?” Luther said looking at both of them.  
“Well out lovely Vanya is going to school and I’m an adrift artist trying to find myself in the world,” Klaus answered for them.  
“Oh, Luther congratulations!” Vanya said suddenly remembering the engagement.  
“Thank you!” He smiled, pleased.  
They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Luther got up to go open the door.  
“So Vanya, what are you studying?” Lila asked.  
“Double major in music performance and languages.”  
“Still plying the violin I see,” Diego said with a smirk.  
“I can assure you I’m much better than I was at 12.” She smiled back at him.  
“You know you always were the smarter twin,” Klaus said looking at her.  
“Of course she is.”  
They all looked up to see Ben entering with Five and Luther.   
“She was the only one that could ever keep up with everyone’s least favourite math genius.” Ben grinned at her. “Good to see all of you again!” He looked to Diego and an entering Allison.

They went through introductions again, everyone hugging except Five, though he did shake hands with Lila. They all say back down, Ben sitting next to Klaus on the loveseat and Five taking the chair next to Vanya. Allison had brought in a pitcher of what looked to be lemonade and a plater of snacks. 

“So the whole umbrella academy, back together again,” Klaus said looking around the room.  
“God are we still going by that stupid name from when we were kids?” Allison asked laughing.  
“Wait you guys called yourselves the umbrella academy, like some sort of secret crime-fighting organization?” Lila asked looking at Diego.  
“Yeah, we grew up in this old abandoned umbrella factory that the old man refurbished into an orphanage. There were a few logos still around though, in the basement and stuff.” He said explaining the weird nickname they had given themselves as kids.  
“That’s kind of cool actually,” Lila said looking surprised.  
“We were anything but,” Ben said with a wry grin, “Do you remember when we played superheroes when we were like 5?”  
“Oh my god don’t remind me!” Allison said covering her face.  
“When Luther got really into it and jumped down from that tree and broke his arm,” Diego said laughing at their brother.  
“Hey, I was not the one determined to learn how to throw knives.”  
“You’re the one who still can’t.” Diego bit back.  
“Knife throwing is literally the most useless skill.”  
“Says someone who can’t do it.”  
“Good to know they still bicker like 3 year-olds.” Vanya looked over to see Five had leaned over to talk just to her. She giggled, Luther and Diego had always been competitive with each other which usually resulted in stupid fights about everything.  
“Well, Five what’s new with you?” Allison asked cutting off the other two.  
“Oh you know, not much, school.” He said shifting uncomfortably.  
“Make any groundbreaking new physics discoveries yet?” Diego asked.  
“None that you’d understand.”  
“Ouch!”  
“You know it’s true, Vanya was the only one who could keep up with him.” Ben cut in laughing. Five simply shrugged, he was right.

Their conversation continued on mostly like that, someone bringing up something they did as kids and poking fun at each other. Vanya didn’t really engage in the conversation, happy to sit back and observe. Vanya rather liked Lila she had a dry humour and was blunt in a way that worked well with Diego. Allison and Luther, like when they were kids, were constantly making heart eyes at each other. Vanya was used to Ben and Klaus’s dynamic, they would glance at the other every so often and smile. Every so often Five would lean over to her and whisper a sarcastic comment about something someone had said, she usually had her own comment she would respond with. 

After a couple of hours they decided they should call it a night, people had things to do and early classes in the morning. Before they could leave Allison pulled Klaus and Vanya aside.  
“What the hell is up with you and Five?” Allison said pulling them into the kitchen.  
“What do you mean?” She asked.  
“There’s totally something, the two of you were whispering to each other all night.”  
“Are we talking about that Five guys?” Lila said suddenly appearing in the kitchen. “Yeah, he’s totally in love with you babe.”  
“No, he’s not!”  
“Will you at least admit you like him?” Allison asked looking at her.  
“Fine, maybe I have a tiny crush on him but it means nothing because he obviously doesn’t like me!”  
“Why?” Klaus said finally speaking up.  
“What?”  
“Why could he never like you?”  
“Cause, he’s Five, why would he ever like someone like me?”  
“Love that boy’s in love with you, always has been.”  
“You’re too busy staring at him to realize he’s staring at you,” Allison said smiling at her.  
“All of you are just saying that because you’re in relationships, you see love everywhere even where it’s not!” She snapped.  
“Maybe but I will say I told you so when you finally admit it to each other,” Klaus said he and Allison started leaving, Vanya trailing after them. Lila stopped her with a hand on her arm.  
“From an outside perspective, there’s a lot of sexual tension between you two. You should either fuck and get over it or admit you both have deeper feelings.”  
She left the kitchen, leaving Vanya alone. 

She had a lot to think about and literally no time to do so. She sighed and went to leave with her brother. She hugged everyone bye and stepped out into the warm evening air. She would have to put off this breakdown for later.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya and /five present their poem to their class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I am more of a poet that fiction writer, I write mostly poetry and picked that as the class Vanya and Five were taking because of that.

Monday morning, 7:55 am, it was presentation day. The nervous energy in the room was palpable. Five sat, sunk in his seat next to Vanya the large coffee she had brought him clutched in his hands. Their poem was ready and they had practiced reciting it in front of Ben and Klaus, who said it was very good. They had no reason to be nervous. And still, Five could feel Vanya’s leg shaking under the desk next to him. This felt personal, they talked about private things from their childhood, things Five wasn’t particularly keen on sharing with a class of first-year college students. 

The professor strolled in, almost giddy smile on his face.  
“Goodmorning class! It is a presentation day! I have made a list of when you’ll go which is up on the board.” He said pulling aside a chalkboard to show the list of student pairs. Five and Vanya were in the middle of the group.  
“Okay first group, you guys are up!” The professor called and went to sit down at his desk.

A gangly, nerdy-looking boy and a muscular, athletic-looking girl got up. They talked about how they are only perceived to be one thing and how they can’t have other interests outside of the label society has put on them. It was a fair point but they used to many flowery metaphors for Five’s liking. 

The next group were two girls who talked about being from immigrant families, again a fairly interesting topic but the writing wasn’t that engaging. By the third group, Five had tuned out and was mindlessly doodling equations in the margins of his notebook. It was only when Vanya nudged him that he realized their time was up. The two of them stood and made their way to the front of the room. He glanced at Vanya and she nodded at him, he turned to the class.

“Childhood, such an innocuous thing. // A mother that tucks you in a night, // a father that plays catch with you, // sometimes a couple of siblings that you play with. // The American Dream. // One day you learn though that // childhood is not an as idyllic thing. // Instead it’s 43 kids, // stuck in an old umbrella factory. // It’s scrambling for a scrap of attention, // because when you can’t get affection // you’ll go for anything. //It’s strict rules // It’s being stuck in a house // that felt more like a prison // most days. // It’s what hardens you against the world, // before you even experience it.”  
He turns to look at Vanya for the next stanza.

“Childhood is 7 best friends, // running around the courtyard // playing tag // as 5 year-olds. // It’s crawling into each other’s bed //when there was a storm // or the nightmares got too bad // or because we simply didn’t want to be alone. // It’s learning ancient Latin and Greek, // and ballroom dancing, // and quantum mechanics. // It’s sneaking out to the roof // to watch the stars // and talk until the sunrises. // It’s inside jokes, // and giggling our way through lessons // and sneaking out // to get doughnuts.”

“Childhood,”  
“Such an innocuous thing.”  
“Be it awful,”  
“Or exceptional.”  
“It will always be ours.” They finished together.

Five looked over at Vanya and grinned. After a beat of silence, the audience clapped, Vanya and Five made their way back to their seats. The next group was called and the presentations continued. He felt something bump his arm and he glanced over to see Vanya sliding a piece of paper towards him.  
We’re done! was written in her neat handwriting.  
We are. he wrote back, then. Since when do we pass notes in class?  
I don’t want to be disrespectful to everyone’s presentations. What are you doing after this?  
Well, my physics lecture go cancelled cause my prof got sick two weeks into the year. So nothing. He wrote back, his chicken scratch looked especially messy next to her neat scrawl.  
Great, we should hang out. She smiled at him and he couldn’t say no to her.  
Yeah alright.

Five spent the rest of the class doodling geometric patterns in his notebook and half paying attention to the presentations. Eventually, the last pair went and they were able to leave. Five was gathering his things and about to leave when he heard the teacher call his name.   
“Ms. and Mr. Hargreeves would you please come down to speak to me.”  
Five glanced at Vanya but she looked as unsure as him. The two made there way down to the teacher’s desk.  
“Your poem was very different from most others.”  
“We’re sorry sir, you said to write about something that we shared and well we did,” Vanya said rambling a little.  
“I never said it was bad, just different. It seems like the two of you share quite the history and grew up together.”  
“Yes sir.”   
“To be fair we hadn’t seen each other in five years at the point that you paired us together.” Five cut in.  
“Very well, I will not take points off your assignment. Your poem was very well done, congratulations to the both of you.”  
“Thank you, sir!” Vanya said and Five simply nodded.

The two of them left the classroom and let out a breath.   
“That went better than expected.” Five said, leading the way out of the building.  
“Yeah, all things considered, could have been a lot worse,” Vanya said catching up to him.  
“What are we doing now?” She asked turning to him.  
“I don’t know, what do you want to do? You were the one who wanted to do something.”   
“Fine let’s go sit outside, I have a bunch of reading to do.”  
“Lead the way.”

Vanya led them to the courtyard outside and took them to a tree. She sat down and got her books out of her bag. Five sat down next to her and watched as she focused on her book. As she sat in the warm afternoon light he was reminded of a 13-year-old Vanya. Sometimes she would drag him outside to the courtyard and they would read books aloud to each other. He watched her settle into her book lost in his few good memories from childhood, they all seemed to involve Vanya in some way.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Vanya hang out late at night and do their homework.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have any notes for this chapter other than I really like it.

Five had been spending a lot of time at Vanya’s apartment. Vanya figured this out when she heard knocking at her door at 11 o’clock on Thursday evening. She got up to open it, unsurprised to see Five at the door. She had been up working on an essay for one of her classes but welcomed him in.   
“Do you have good coffee?” He asked entering her apartment.  
“Sure, I was just about to put on a pot.” It was true, she had been thinking about it.  
“Great.” She watched him make his way to the living room with a bemused expression.  
She busied herself with making coffee, cream and sugar for herself, black for Five. When she entered her living room she saw he had spread out around her books and laptop and was now sat on the floor scribbling something in a notebook. She set the cups of coffee down on the coffee table and settled back into her spot on the couch. 

“Were you here for something specific or just to steal my coffee?” She asked, watching him. He looked up at her.  
“You make it easier to think, you’re good to bounce questions off of when I’m stuck. Also, my neighbours are having very loud makeup sex.” He turned back to his equations.  
“Okay, I’ll let you stay if you agree to proofread my essay.”  
“Deal.” He said not looking up.  
She turned back to her laptop to keep working. The essay was due tomorrow but she had been so busy with wedding stuff she had left it to the last minute. Wednesdays were now family dinner/game night so she hadn’t gotten any work done the night before. With only a couple days left until the wedding, everyone was scrambling with last-minute plans.

They worked together in silence for a while, until Five finally spoke up.  
“Where’s Klaus tonight?”  
“Oh he’s out with some friends from high school, probably won’t be back ‘till like 2.”  
“You didn’t want to go?”  
“I had an essay to write. Besides they were more his friends really, I wasn’t the most popular in high school.”  
“I can’t see why.”  
“The quiet kid who didn’t have any parents and spoke ancient greek and played the violin. Not really ideal friend material.”  
“Not a band kid then?”  
“And have to be at school at 6 am, no thanks.” He laughed at this.  
“Fair.”  
“What about you?”  
“What about me?”  
“What were you like in high school?”  
“The new kid who was adopted and obsessed with math and wasn’t properly socialized? Yeah, definitely not the most popular.”  
“You didn’t have any friends?”  
“I had left all my friendship with you. You were really the only friend I’ve had. I’m not exactly the most approachable person.”  
“Okay fair.” She laughed, Five’s personality was prickly on a good day.

She turned her attention back to her essay, she only had a couple more paragraphs left to write. She was just finishing her essay when Five spoke up again.   
“Do you mind if I write on your walls?”  
“Uh,” she didn’t know how to respond to that.   
“Just in chalk, I’ll erase it before I leave, I promise.”   
“You know what, sure!” She really couldn’t say no to him.  
“Thanks!”  
He got a pack of chalk from his bag and took out a new stick. He turned to one of the walls and carefully took down the paintings. The walls were originally a very boring cream colour when they moved in but Klaus had painted them to be a deep green colour. He started scrawling equations and diagrams that Vanya couldn’t follow, occasionally going back to check his notes. 

Vanya watched all of this with a bemused expression. Five’s childhood bedroom had been equally covered in chalk, she remembers having to scrub the walls after he left. She watched him for a bit before turning back to her essay. She finished her final sentences and turned back to Five. He was now standing back staring at the wall, now covered in chalk.   
“Stuck?” she asked.  
“Yeah, I can’t get past this one theory and how it applies.”  
“Why don’t you take a break and look at my essay then come back to it.”  
“Yeah okay.”

He came and sat down next to her on the couch. She handed over her laptop and got up to stretch from sitting for too long. She stretched her arms above her head and moved to look at the equations on the walls of her apartment. It surprised her that she actually understood some of them. She had taken physics and math through high school but figured Five was so above her that she could never possibly understand. She waited until he looked up from her laptop to voice this thought.  
“I really like the essay, it’s an interesting thesis. You could reword your introduction a bit and I fixed your grammar but overall really good.” He smiled at her, handing her laptop back.  
“Thanks!”  
“It’s really the least I could do when you’re letting me write all over your walls.”  
“I actually think I understand some of it, so you know.”  
“Really?”  
She just nodded at his excited expression.  
“Would you mind talking through it with me? It always used to help me figure stuff out when we were younger.” He mumbled the last part to the ground.  
“Yeah sure.”  
“Thank you!”

And so Five explained his equations, how energy and force and gravity were all working together. It was only when Vanya asked about the friction that his eyes lit up.   
“Oh my god, how didn’t I think of that. Of course! You’re a genius!” He turned back to his wall of equations adding in the numbers for friction. 

Sensing her work was done Vanya turned back to her essay. She looked at her introduction again and took Five’s advice. It was unclear and messy, she rewrote some sentences then read the entire essay over. She was happy with the final product and saved it to her computer and made a mental reminder to go to the library tomorrow to print it before her class. 

“You figured it out yet?” She asked looking back at Five.  
“Almost.”  
She yawned and glanced at the time, 1:32 am.   
“Shit how did it get so late!”  
“What time is it?”  
“1:30.”  
“Damn I’m sorry for keeping you up so late.”  
“No it’s not your fault, I was up anyway, and you helped me with my essay.”  
“I’ll just copy these then get out then.”  
Vanya felt a strange sense of sadness at this, part of her wanted Five to stay all night. To talk until the sun came up like they used to. But they had things to do in the morning, they weren’t kids anymore.  
“Okay.” She said her voice quiet, but Five didn’t seem to notice, too busy copying the equations into his notebook. Vanya got a wet cloth from the bathroom to wipe down the wall. Once Five was done with his notes he took it from her to clean the wall. Vanya went back to her things and packed them away to be ready for the next day. 

Once Five had cleaned the wall he collected all his notes and things back into his bag.   
“Okay, I’m about ready to go.”  
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, at the rehearsal dinner?”  
“I’ll be there.”  
He put on his coat and shoes and she unlocked her door.  
“Anytime you want to come over and write all over our walls and explain physics to me you can.”   
“I might take you up on that.”  
He stood in the doorframe, seeming not wanting to leave as much as she didn’t want him to.  
“Goodnight Five.”  
“Goodnight Vanya.”  
He finally stepped away and turned down the hall. She watched him turn into the stairs before closing the door. She sighed and walked back to the living room. 

Their coffee mugs were still on the table and she brought them to the kitchen, dumping them in the sink. It was only when she was walking by the living room again did she notice the paintings Five had carefully piled in the corner. Instead of putting them back on the wall, she hung them up on the other walls in the room. Leaving one blank wall for Five’s equations.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison and Luther are getting married!

The day had arrived, it was time for Allison and Luther to be married. Five had spent the previous night at Luther’s bachelor party. There had fortunately been no stripers and had actually been fairly fun. But today the group had woken up at the B&B outside of the city that was hosting the wedding. As it turns out Allison and Luther had been adopted by very rich families that paid for everything and had been more than happy to welcome in the addition of 4 new people. 

He had been woken up at 6 by the bridal party getting chaperoned off to get ready and was very grateful in that moment to be able to roll over and go back to sleep. Now they were all gathered in Luther’s room, half-dressed in their suits. Luther was surprisingly calm, he seemed incredibly happy more than anything. Diego on the other hand, as the best man, was panicking. He had been running around all morning, determined to make everything perfect. 

There was about an hour until the ceremony and they were about to meet up with everyone to take photos. Once all the groomsmen were up to Diego’s standards they went to the lobby to meet with everyone. The girls, plus Klaus, were already there talking to the photographer.   
“Everyone’s here!” Allison’s adoptive mother said, noticing their entrance.  
“Great!,” The photographer said looking up, “I was thinking of taking photos down by the lake.”  
“Lovely, let’s go, everyone!” Allison’s mother said again, herding everyone towards the door. 

Five found Vanya in the crowd, she was in a blue dress like the other bridesmaids and her hair was done up with small blue flowers braided in. Five was struck with how beautiful she was, she looked like some kind of magical fairy princess.   
“You clean up quite nicely.” Five said coming up next to her.  
“I could say the same for you.” She turned to him with a grin. 

They stepped outside into the warm sun and down the path leading to the small lake behind the building. The photographer organized them together to take the big group shots, then some of just the bridal party, then just the groomsmen and groom, then just the bride and groom. Once it was all done guests were starting to arrive and they had to go get the final things ready. 

The ceremony was fairly short. Everyone walked down the aisle in pairs, Five walked with Klaus, who winked at him before going to stand on opposite sides of the makeshift altar. Then the vows, they were short and sweet but Five could see meant a lot to the two saying them. And then they were married and it was done. Five had to concede that the ceremony was quite nice.

Then there was the reception, that was really the fun part. A tent was set up behind the B&B with tables and a dance floor. Five was sitting at a table with Vanya, Klaus and Ben. 

First, there were the speeches. Diego gave a very nice speech about watching Luther grow up interspersed with teasing him. Next Allison’s sister and maid of honour gave a speech about Allison and how she had seen her grow and how Luther was so good for her. Thankfully they had limited the speeches to those two because Five wasn’t sure how he would sit through any more. 

Allison then thanked everyone for being there and called for dinner to begin. A bunch of waiters came out and brought them some kind of fancy salad. They also got flutes of champagne, Five typically drank harder liquor but it was alcohol so he couldn’t complain.

“Out of everyone in our group, I never thought Allison would be the one to get married at 18.” Klaus said looking over at the big table they were sat at.  
“Did you think any of us would?” Ben asked.  
“Yeah, Vanya and Five.”  
Ben snorted and Five just stared at his drink.  
“So how do you like your salad!” Vanya asked her voice high.  
“Why, it's delicious dear sister.”  
“I’m pretty sure the entire dinner will cost more than my rent so definitely trying to savour it.” Five said looking up at the table once again. Vanya was flushed and Ben and Klaus were grinning deviously.   
“The perks of being adopted by a rich family that feels bad for you,” Ben smirked.  
“If that’s the case, at my wedding we’re all gonna eat Mcdonalds,” Klaus said and Vanya high fived him laughing.

Their waiter returned and took away their plates, replacing them with a steak with mashed potatoes artfully swirled next to them. They ate quietly for a bit, it was Vanya that spoke up this time.  
“246.” She simply stated.  
“Goddammit! Wait, really?” Klaus said looking around.  
“Yeah, I counted.”  
Five looked at Ben seeing if he had any insights into the twins' antics but he looked as confused as him.   
“Care to share with the rest of the class?” Five asked.  
“I would but that would be against the rules.” She smiled sweetly at him. He just rolled his eyes at her and turned back to his food. 

They finished their food with Klaus making random comments about the people at the tables around them. Their plates were taken away and they sat waiting for the entire room finish. 

Having grown up in a house with so many other people everything was a competition, even meal times so they learned to eat quickly. Most people seemed to not have grown up with the idea of always being the first and anything else got nothing drilled into them and were chatting with the people at their table. It was driving Five slightly insane, he was not good with sitting doing nothing. 

He was pulled out of his musings on how childhood trauma presents itself into adulthood by a tap on his knee. He looked up to see Vanya looking at him with a worried expression. She was almost glowing in the light of the sunset and she looked so concerned for him, and it hit him. He loved her. He had as long as he could remember. 

Five was in love with Vanya Hargreeves. 

Shit.

He managed to give her a slightly pained smile and nod. While he was sure that externally he was a mask of calm indifference, one he had been trained since a child, internally he was freaking out. 

He was in love with Vanya. How did he not realize this before? How she felt so safe, how in his mess of a childhood he always sought her out, always cared for opinion despite not caring about anyone else's. He had loved her since he knew what love was. 

His breakdown was interrupted by someone putting a piece of cake down in front of him. He realized he had missed the cutting of the cake in his panic. He numbly picked up his fork and took a couple bites, it was surprisingly quite good. He took a couple careful deep breaths before turning back to the table. He could have a proper panic about this later, when he was safely back in his room, right now he was in the middle of a wedding. 

Vanya was giving him a concerned look again but before she could ask him anything everyone was gathering by the dance floor for the first dance. He chugged the remaining half glass of champagne before following the crowd. The opening notes to Dancing in the Moonlight played as Luther and Allison took their places on the dance floor. They swayed to the music, moving in a lazy circle around the floor.   
“Mr. and Mrs. Hargreeves invite anyone who would like to join them on the dance floor.” A voice called. Five made to leave but was stopped by a hand on his arm.   
“You’re not getting away that easily,” Vanya said, pulling him back toward the dance floor. She placed his hand on her waist and her’s on his shoulder. They swayed to the music and Five looked anywhere but her face.  
“What’s wrong?”   
“Nothing.”  
He could feel her disapproving gaze on him.  
“It’s nothing, just freaking out over a minor thing, you don’t have to worry I promise.” He finally met her gaze. She stared into his eyes for a bit before nodding to herself.  
“Okay.”   
“I promise if it was something important I’d tell you.” She just nodded. 

They continued their swaying sort of dance until the song ended and everyone clapped.   
“I’m going to get something to drink, you want anything?” He asked Vanya, letting her go.  
“Vodka tonic.”  
“Yes ma’am.” He winked at her before trailing into the crowd. 

He got them both drinks and found her back at their table. He sat down placing her drink in front of her.   
“How long do you think this thing will go?” He asked.  
“I don’t know but my bets are sunrise.”  
“The Hargreeves know how to party.”  
“We’ve never actually partied together.” She mused.  
“That’s true, we never got to see each other really be teenagers. Such a shame, I would have loved to see Luther go through puberty.”  
She laughed at this. A beat passed where they both looked out at the crowd.  
“Who do you think will be the first to puke?” She asked, grinning at the crowd.  
He looked around the room. “The lady with the pink polka dot dress.”  
“Mmm good choice, I think the man in the grey suit.” She said pointing inconspicuously to the man.

Their conversation continued mostly like that, the pair people watching and making up stories about their lives. Eventually, Klaus and Ben joined them again and joined their game. It was when a 50s swing tune that Five vaguely recognized came on that they were pulled out of it. They all turned their heads to the dj booth that they saw Diego grinning at them. He waved to them and it clicked in Five’s head, where he knew the song from, they had learned to dance as kids, in particular swing.   
“Now we have to go.” Ben said, pulling them all up, seeming to make the same connection as Five. 

It seemed at the unfamiliar music most people had cleared off the dance floor leaving just the Hargreeves. With a slight sigh, Five settled into position the memories of learning this dance as kids resurfacing.   
“God I hate you all.” He muttered and they started to dance.

He was dancing with Ben, the two spinning and swaying to the music. Then at the part in the music, they spin-off and find their new partner. He finds himself with Vanya, she’s laughing and has to catch herself on his lapels. They spin and dance together and her energy is infectious and he finds himself grinning. And then they spin off again and he’s with Diego.  
“Was there a reason for this?” Five asks.  
“None of you were dancing.” Diego shrugs.  
“And you thought the best way to solve that was to put on swing music?”  
“It worked didn’t it?”  
And they’re off again and he’s back with Vanya. He picks her up and spins her around remembering doing the same almost 10 years earlier. She’s laughing as he dips her, and they’re in perfect sync together. He had always liked dancing with Vanya. The song comes to an end and Five’s brought back to the present. The crowd that had formed around the dancefloor is clapping for them so they all take a small bow. 

Five goes back to their table and finishes his drink, still grinning from dancing with his siblings earlier. He sits for a bit before making his way back to the dancefloor, if Diego wanted him to dance he would dance. He finds Vanya, Klaus and Ben dancing together and joins them. 

The night continues and slowly people start leaving. Five spends the rest of the night either drinking at their table or dancing with his siblings. Every so often Diego would put on another song from their childhood and everyone would get up to dance laughing. It’s 4 am when the final people are leaving. At some point, Five had lost his jacket and Vanya had taken off her shoes. 

They make their way back up to their rooms and stand in the hallway.  
“Well we know now, the Hargreeves certainly know how to party,” Vanya says with a laugh.  
“That we do. I expected nothing less.”  
“I think we’re all going out for brunch tomorrow.”  
“Sounds nice.”  
“Yeah. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, or later today really.”  
“Goodnight Vanya.” He smiles at her.  
“Goodnight Five.” 

They turn towards their separate rooms. Five manages to change out of his suit before collapsing into bed exhausted. He falls asleep with a smile on his face though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game Klaus and Vanya are playing is the nipple game where you have to count the number of nipples in the room and then say the number and if anyone asks you can't tell them.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after the wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last "normal" chapter, the next one will be an epilogue of sorts.

Vanya woke with a pounding headache, her mouth was dry and the light streaming through her curtains seemed too bright. In short, she was hungover. She rolled over and saw the time read 11:17. She knew she had to meet everyone at 11:30. With a sigh she pulled herself out of bed. 

She managed to find some painkillers in her bag and drank a large glass of water knowing that would help the indecent headache. She dragged herself to the shower which woke her up further. She managed to look moderately put together by 11:30 as she made her way to the lobby to meet everyone. 

She found Five, Ben and Diego already in the lobby waiting. They looked up at her entrance and waved her over.  
“Do we know where we’re going yet?” She asked, joining the group.  
“We were thinking that dinner we passed on the way out,” Diego said.  
“Coffee?” Ben asked, holding a paper cup out to her.  
“You are a lifesaver.” She took the coffee from him and took a large sip. It wasn’t great coffee, probably from the hotel but it was caffeinated so she couldn’t complain.   
At this moment Lila arrived as half put together as the rest of them, she grinned at everyone.  
“How are we doing?” She asked.  
Everyone made vaguely unhappy noises and she laughed.  
“My mum used to have the best hangover cure, I should have rung her and asked last night.”  
“Coffee works really well,” Diego said, handing her a paper cup.   
“We’re just waiting for Klaus.” Five said from beside her.  
As if being summoned by his name alone Klaus appeared in the doorway.   
“Great we’re all here, let’s go,” Diego said, turning and walking towards the door.   
The group followed him out and into his car, it was nicer than Ben’s old car. They squished into the car, Diego driving with Klaus and Ben in the front with him, Lila Five and Vanya in the back. Vanya somehow ended up in the middle acutely aware of Five’s leg pressed against her’s.

The ride to the diner was about 20 minutes, Klaus put on some radio station playing the latest pop hits. Vanya was more a classical music fan, mostly forced by having to play it constantly. Other than the music and chatter of the radio hosts every few minutes the ride was silent. Everyone was tired and hungover and didn’t particularly feel like trying to start a conversation.

They pulled up in front of a small diner with a glowing neon sign. They got out of the car and walked into the diner. It had a 50s style to it with the checkerboard floor and red vinyl booths. The group picked a booth in the corner. A waitress came over and handed out menus and Ben ordered a pot of coffee for the table.

“So what was with all the dancing yesterday?” Lila asked.  
“Ah the joys of growing up under Sir Reginald,” Klaus said.  
“We learned how dance growing up, ballroom, swing, that weird week of square dance,” Ben explained.  
“Learn any other fun things?” Lila asked.  
“Oh loads, ancient languages, self-defence, world politics. I’m pretty sure Vanya can fluently speak at least 5 languages and conversationally 5 more. Five can explain advanced theories of time and space.”  
Vanya looked at Five and shrugged, it was true. 

Their waitress came back with coffee and mugs and they ordered a strange assortment of breakfast and lunch items. She took down their order slightly bemused and left again. She came back a few minutes later and filled their table with food. They ate in companionable silence, making comments every now and again. Once they were all stuffed they paid and piled back into the car to drive back to the B&B. 

Once they got back everyone went their separate ways, they were going to meet again in the evening cause Allison and Luther were going to take them all out for dinner in the town. Vanya found herself alone with Five in the lobby.   
“What are you doing today?” He asked.  
“I didn’t really have any plans.”  
“Do you want to go explore the town? I hear there’s a really good coffee place.”  
“Yeah sure, let me go get my coat.”

She walked off to her room to get her coat and wallet, telling Klaus she was going out when she passed him in the hallway. She returned and Five was still there waiting for her. They left the building and made their way down the driveway. It was a very nice fall day out, not too hot and sunny. 

They walked in companionable silence, neither feeling the need to fill it. It was a fairly short walk into town and they made their way to the main street. They walked down the street looking at all the shops, Vanya stopped Five when she saw a small used bookstore. They made their way into the store.

It was a small store with shelves full of books, crates piled on a table full of books, just books everywhere. Vanya immediately headed to the horror section to browse. She saw Five heading towards the non-fiction section. She looked at the shelf of titles and picked a couple she’d been meaning to read. She flipped through them seeing that someone had scribbled notes in the margins of one of them. She moved to the fiction section and looked through the shelves for things that looked interesting. She found a couple of books that looked promising. Five came strolling into the fiction section holding two massive textbooks. 

“I love old bookstores!” She turned to him grinning.   
“They do have a particular charm.”   
“Did you find anything interesting?”  
“A couple textbooks about space.”  
“Fun.”  
“Are you ready to go or do you need another hour?” He asked with a smirk towards her arms piled with novels.  
-“I think Klaus would kill me if I brought home the whole store so this will have to do.”

They made their way to the counter where a middle-aged woman with grey hair and smile lines was sitting behind. They paid for the books and thanked the shopkeep and made their way back outside into the sunshine. They wandered the main street for another couple hours going to the coffeeshop Five had heard about. Vanya had to admit they made quite good coffee. They decided to head back to get ready in time to meet everyone for dinner. 

Back at the hotel, they parted ways, going back to their rooms. Once Vanya was back at her room she had a shower and blow-dried her hair and put on a nice blouse and dress pants. She had a bit of time before she had to leave so she decided to start one of the new books that she got. 

She got to the lobby right on time, having met Klaus and Ben in the hallway. Everyone seemed to arrive right at the same moment, all converging together in the lobby. It was decided to just walk to the restaurant since it was only 10 minutes according to google maps. The group went out and for the second time that day Vanya found herself walking through the small town next to Five.

“Did you start any of your books?” He asked.  
“Yeah.”  
“Is it any good?”  
“Yeah, it used to be someone’s for a school project so it’s filled with all their little comments.”  
“Nice. I always made really sarcastic comments for that kind of thing.”  
“Yeah, I’d take the notes and stuff but then say little things for just myself.”

They arrived at a fancy looking restaurant and Allison gave her name for the reservation. They were led to a big table and took their places around it. The waiter asked for their drink orders, a couple of bottles of wine were ordered for the table. They all looked at their menus at the incredibly overpriced food in Vanya’s opinion. When their waiter came back they ordered, Vanya got a fancy-sounding chicken sandwich. 

The dinner was nice, they talked about the wedding and everything that had happened over the past couple of days. It was nice to be surrounded by her family, laughing and eating nice food. Five and she made their sarcastic comments back and forth. She saw Ben raise an eyebrow at her but ignored him. She may be desperately in love with Five but he would never like her back. She was perfectly okay to stay friends with him forever. She would rather that than mess up their new relationship with her stupid feelings.

The group walked back to the hotel laughing in the night air. It was a clear night and the stars looked so beautiful. Vanya lingered outside for a bit just staring up at the stars.  
“There’d be a better view from the field.”   
She spun and saw Five standing watching her.   
“Well come on.” He rolled his eyes at her, taking her arm and bringing her around the back of the building, where there was a big open field. He dragged her out to the middle of the field. They laid down like they had done as kids and looked up at the stars. She could hear Five fiddling with his hands beside her.   
“Vanya there’s something I should tell you.” She turned her head to him, he looked nervous, Five didn’t get nervous. “I- I love you. And I know you don’t feel the same and I may have just ruined our friendship but I just thought I should tell you.”

She was vaguely aware of Five rambling on but Vanya’s brain had short-circuited. Five loved her like actually loved her. And with that thought, she surged forward and kissed him. He went stiff against her lips and she thought she had made some kind of mistake but then he was kissing her back. It felt like coming home, as everything in the universe had righted itself. She pulled back slightly enough to whisper.  
“Love you too. I love you so much it hurts.”  
He pulled her back to kiss him again. She lost the sense of time, all she was aware of was Five’s lips on hers. This time it was him that pulled away.  
“I’ve loved you since I knew what love was.” He whispered looking her in the eyes.

They stayed like that curled together under a sky full of stars whispering promises of love to each other.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six months later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I listened to exclusively country music (a lot of Taylor Swift) while writing this fic.

Vanya was leaning against the wall waiting outside a lecture hall in the math building. Students started filtering out of the classroom and she perked up stepping away from the wall. She saw who she was looking for in the crowd. She walked towards them through the students leaving the lecture.  
“Hey.” She called. Five looked up at her and grinned.  
“Hi.”  
“I brought you coffee.”  
“I love you.” He smiled leaning down to kiss her.   
She handed him one of the two cups of coffee in her hands linking her free hand into his own.   
“How was your lecture?” She asked.  
“Boring, we’re going over stuff I’ve been doing since we were kids.”  
“Not everyone’s a super-smart math genius like you, you know.”  
“Never mind me how was your class?”  
“Good! I like learning russian, makes me feel like I’m connected to my culture.”  
“Great! Now when we go to russia we’ll have someone who knows the language.”  
She simply rolled her eyes at him.  
“What are we doing today?” She asked.  
“Well we have dinner at Allison and Luther’s tonight so we have a few hours to do whatever.”  
“So what do you want to do?”  
“I don’t care, I just want to hang out with you.”  
“You’re impossible.”  
“But you love me anyways.”  
She shrugged but was grinning.

They ended up at the library, being college students they constantly had work to do. Vanya was reading a novel for her german class and Five was working on some problems from his advanced calculus class. Despite their differing work, they sat next to each other at a table, hands clasped under the table. 

After a while, Five sighed leaning back in his chair running his free hand through his hair. Vanya paused her reading to look at him.   
“Stuck?”  
“Yeah.”  
“You want to try and explain it?”  
“Sure.” He smiled at her.

After explaining the problem and Vanya asking the right questions Five seemed to figure out his mistake.   
“You’re a genius!” He whispered. He leaned over to kiss her.

He moved back to his work with a renewed sense of vigour. They stayed like that until Vanya had finished the assigned chapters for reading and taken the appropriate notes.   
“You ready to go? I should probably practice some violin today and my neighbours don’t seem to like it when I do it at 3 am.”   
“I can’t imagine why they’re getting a free concert by a future famous violinist.” He said, packing away his notes.  
“You’re just saying that.”  
“Have I ever lied to you? You’re incredible.” He punctuated his statement with a kiss on the cheek. 

They left the library and walked to Vanya’s apartment. As they walked in they saw Klaus sitting on the couch watching some midday soap.   
“Hey Klaus, we’re home! I’m planning to practice so…”  
“Ooh I like your new piece, it’s good for creativity. Hi Five!”  
“Hey, Klaus.”

Vanya went to her violin tuning it and getting it comfortable on her shoulder. She started with scales warming up her fingers. Once she was warmed up she turned to her music finding her latest piece she was working on for her performance class. She was vaguely aware of Klaus settling behind his easel and Five getting out his notes again to work. She counted in her head getting the right count imagining a full orchestra behind her then placed her bow to the violin. 

This piece was technically difficult and she didn’t have the muscle memory yet to do it without her music. She played through the first half nicely, keeping up with the imaginary conductor in her head. She swayed slightly along to the music. She went into the second part, she had practiced this less and was more unsure about it. She managed to get through it without any big mistakes mentally making note of having to drill different bars that were tricky. Once she finished the piece, letting the final note ring out, she tuned back into the world around her. 

Klaus was painting in the corner adjacent to hers, focused on his work. Five had moved from his notebook to writing on the wall, something he did pretty much anytime he was working at her apartment. He gave her a soft smile looking up from his work that she returned. 

She turned back to her music taking the pencil she kept, circling the points that needed work in the piece. She first decided to do some arpeggios to stretch out her fingers. Once she was happy with them she turned back to the piece looking at the first part that she had circled. It was a few bars that had some difficult stretches of her fingers. She started drilling them until they were up to her standard then moved on to the next problem area. 

She was halfway through the last few bars that were giving her issues when Ben came in. He stood at the door looking at all of them for a bit before shaking his head, a fond smile on his face.   
“What am I going to do with all of you?” He laughed.  
Five glanced up at him and simply shrugged. Vanya turned back to her music. Ben sat down on the couch pulling out a book. 

Once she had gone through all the places that were giving her issues she played through the piece again. It was much better now than it had been at the beginning of her practice. She grinned proudly at herself when she finished. She put her violin away carefully then looked up at the room. Klaus was still painting, Five had filled most of the wall now and seemed to be solving his final equation, Ben was sprawled on the couch reading what looked to be a historical fiction novel. 

“Shit we have to go soon.” She said, finally glancing at the time.  
Everyone looked at her then the clock on the wall and seemed to finally realize the time. Klaus collected his paintbrushes and pallet and took them to the kitchen to wash. Five took out his notebook to copy down his calculations. Ben closed his book and grinned at her when she came to sit down next to him.  
“I know I didn’t hear the entire thing but it was really nice,” Ben said.  
“Thanks,” She smiled at him.  
“Just be happy it’s not at 3 am, apparently people don’t like that.” Five said from where he was trying to clean the chalk off the wall with his sleeve.  
“Yeah well people aren’t typically awake at 3 am,” She got up to help him, getting an actual cloth. “Unlike you, most people don’t run on coffee and spite.”  
He just smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek. Klaus came back and made gagging noises at them. She threw the wet chalk covered cloth at him. 

“Are we ready to go?” Ben asked. “Okay let’s go.”  
He left, Klaus trailing after him. Five wrapped his arms around Vanya’s waist resting his head on her shoulder.  
“I love you.” He whispered.  
“I love you too.” She whispered back. 

He untangled himself from her and linked their fingers. They left the apartment to go play board games and eat pizza with their siblings, their family. Vanya couldn’t help but think how much had changed since they were kids, they were all free now. They were all happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read this entire thing and left comments and kudos and were just generally excited. It makes me so happy to see someone's comment about a chapter or character.


End file.
